O.j. Legal Saga Seeps Into Local Mailbox

October 11, 1996|By Greg Dawson,Sentinel Columnist

Take a letter - please. It's not that Eileen Olsen of Sanford lacks sympathy for the family of murdered Ron Goldman. It's just that she doesn't know the Goldmans and was put off by a ''Dear Mrs. Olsen'' letter she received from the family asking for a donation to help pay for the Goldmans' civil suit against O.J. Simpson. ''He has a nerve - I don't even know the man,'' she said, meaning Fred Goldman, Ron's father. Olsen sent me a copy of the five-page letter, and it's one slick piece of bulk (I won't say junk) mail, with ''Mrs. Olsen'' sprinkled throughout. ''Even though we perhaps have not met you personally,'' it reads. Perhaps? Olsen is certain she has never met the Goldmans. Olsen, 71, said she subscribes to several craft magazines and belongs to a book club, but ''I have no idea how I got on this mailing list.'' Adding to the mystery is that the envelope was addressed ''Mrs. Eileen Olsen'' - Olsen receives no mail under that name, she said. All her mail comes to M.E. or M. Eileen Olsen. Olsen said she asked around church, and no one else has heard from the Goldmans. ''It's not that I'm a fan of O.J.,'' she said. ''But nobody pays my lawyer's fees.'' Maybe her good friends the Goldman family?

Picture this. Posted at the entrance of the new Just For Feet store on East Colonial Drive is a sign: ''Positively No Picture Taking Inside Store.'' No smoking, no food, no drinks I can understand. But no photos? The security guard wasn't talking. But a salesperson explained it to me. ''We don't want anyone stealing our secrets.'' Secrets? Like what - the indoor basketball court? Oops! Now Saddam Hussein and the whole world knows.

Grumpy old men. Well, not exactly. But color Ray Kline of Orlando and Harold Snook of Zellwood very disappointed. Both think they should have been on a list of ''Superfans'' honored during Walt Disney World's 25th anniversary blowout.

''I pretty much go out once a week, and if the weather is bad I make it up during Christmas, when they do such a beautiful job on decorations,'' said Kline, 70, an annual pass holder since 1983.

Kline figures he has seen 676 fireworks shows at Epcot and fallen a total of 1,469 floors on Tower of Terror since the ride opened in 1994. ''One of my favorite places is the Rose and Crown (bar), where everyone knows my name,'' he said.

Snook, 67, has visited Disney parks 351 times since October 1994. His annual pass entitles him to free parking, but Snook gets a parking receipt every time for proof of attendance. ''I keep all this on the computer,'' he said.

Sometimes his wife accompanies him, but most days Snook goes alone. ''I like to just walk around, look at the people, get an ice cream or a sandwich,'' he said. One of his favorite shows is Country Bear Jamboree, which Snook said he once saw performed in Japanese while visiting Japan.

So how come you never write? My column about a Longwood woman who hires herself out as a pen pal to kids prompted a call from Elaine Pancake, customer relations coordinator for the U.S. Postal Service in Orlando. She tells me the service is sponsoring a national letter-writing contest for folks over 50. The challenge: an open letter, of 200 words or less, to America's youth. There will be five winners and one grand winner from each state. The grand prize is a trip for two to the Smithsonian Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. Entry blanks are available at all post offices. The deadline for entries is Oct. 31.

Dumb-Things-I-Did Department. About a dozen people showed up early Monday morning at the West Oaks Mall food court for the first meeting of the West Oaks Walkers club. Unfortunately, they were a week early because I got the date wrong in my column. The kickoff is this Monday (Oct. 14) at 8:30 a.m. There will be a continental breakfast and a ribbon-cutting ceremony. (P.S. The walkers who showed up Monday uninvited were allowed to walk. Whew.)